The whole point of Romans 13 is that one obeys the leadership within the confines of one's conscience. You do the labor that is asked of you, you pay taxes.

But you do not obey when asked to kill or to steal or cheat. You do not follow the leader blindly.

You suffer the consequences of disobedience, in those cases. And, of course, you are critical.

The new book, Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies, by Peter Galbraith, lists the many ways that Bush's efforts did the very opposite of what people now seem to want to claim, that he "kept us safe" with his evil, greedy wars.

"I would say I am looking forward to trotting out Romans 13 in the coming four years every time a right-wing Christian complains about some government policy. But unfortunately, and against Rick Warren’s example, I’m still stuck with that inconvenient directive to treat others how I’d like to be treated"

I don't know what I'm doing on it yet or how it is supposed to work. But it is interesting that a good chunk of the Gazette staff are twittering and following each other and updating each other on what they're doing and patting each other on the back and it is all available for anyone to follow.

Obama has selected Rick Warren to speak at the inauguration. He will become the new Billy Graham. Unlike many progressives, I think Obama's picks so far have shown great shrewdness and an effort to bring the country together. If bringing the country together is not real change, then I don't know what is.

I think there are two good things about Rich Warren appearing at the inauguration. One, it will impress a certain number of the evangelicals who were skeptical of Obama before. And, two, because gay folk are upset (and rightly so), it will put gay rights issues front and center during the inauguration, instead of shoving the issue back into the closet. It could be a win-win choice for Obama.

That said, Rich Warren has said some really stupid things. In this clip, he flaunts his own would-be promiscuity in comparison to that proposed by his "gay friends." Ick. The way to avoid promiscuity is to value marriage. So allow gays to marry already.

I was pretty angry at first about Obama picking Warren for the inauguration, and that wouldn't have been the case 2 weeks ago. His appearence on Hannity has really re-defined what I think of Warren.

Nonetheless, I'm calmed down a lot. We really do need to learn to talk to each other, even though we disagree about basic things. It's ironic that Obama's willingness to talk to people is first tested not by conservatives angry about Ahmadinejad, but by liberals angry about Warren.

I think Obama is a better person that I am. That's a really good thing.

Still, talking is one thing, and a place of honor at an inauguration is different. I hope you are right PG, that this forces gay rights to be at the forefront of the inauguration, whereas he might have gotten away with ignoring it before. We'll see.